''claims that Microsoft intends to ship a $500 standard console as well as an alternative subscription model for $300. As speculation has suggested, the new system will require an Internet connection to properly function''

omg nooo,why the hell microsoft doing this :(( 500$ standard??? i hope not

This isn't unusual. Microsoft is trying to take over the living room, not be a gaming company. They want you to use a Microsoft-brand box for your media. If you happen to play games on it, okay, but if you use it for cable TV, music, and whatnot, that's fine too, because that's what Microsoft wants.

$500 standard(unlocked) and a subsidized"always online" $300 can be understood. at least we get an option.

edit:"It was also relayed to him that the device does indeed require a constant internet connection to function" so no option! and it's a locked down low spec W8 box, no thanks I will keep my open W7 gaming PC.

So no used games, always connected & strict DRM, no offline play, expensive. If Sony comes in at the rumored price point of $399-$450 and allows everything that the next xbox won't, it'll devastate the 720.

you know that if M$ wanted to get in the tv cable business they could have released a separate device for this market, but they already know this would fail.

so now they want to screw over core segment of there xbox install base to force a entry in to this market. they don't care that we just want to play good games, they want us to help them get into this market and if a few fanboy's get lost because of it they don't care. they know that if they could get into this market they could stand to gain millions and millions of new customers.

NO always online console for me.. even if my consoles are connected all the time. it's my choice if they are connected not theirs

I'm holding off until the official announcement and details from MS. BUT if these rumors are true I don't see myself getting a Next Box any time soon if ever. I am a Forza addict and the 360 was far and away my gaming platform of choice over the past several years and I own them ALL.

I majority of games I play I rent or purchase used. Also I game offline probably 20% of the time. This would be an inconvenience for me and I am rather fond of not wasting money on games I know I will blow through in a couple days (action adventure & platform games) and send back to GF for my next game.

Again, I will wait until E3 but so far these rumors are frustrating me. Only because MS is not refuting ANY of them. Hopefully MS is just testing the water to see how this would go over and they take the more traditional route in gaming. If not this just wreaks of more greed and control.

I honestly don't understand why those that are hesitant on here are getting so many disagrees. You guys that are disagreeing only purchase new and don't want any resale or trade in value, EVER? Come on fellow gamers you can't be serious.

That is ALL MS wants. They could care LESS about games. This is why I do not understand why gamer's seem to think that MS has their interests in mind. They don't. Games have and will continue to be a means to an end. They want to 'own' the living room. They will do anything to obtain this.

... I have a huge library of great 360 games, but without BC, among other issues, there's no way I'll be picking up a next-gen X-box, so to know that for 100 bucks I can safeguard my currnet library of games, is reassuring.

Pete prefers Microsoft. All his comment reminds me of was the ps3 was the cheapest bluray player in the market and it was their library of games and their habits of the prior gen that made me spend that extra money NOT its cpu. Games Pete. It's my primary reason I purchased that console

People don't buy consoles as media hubs. Don't people get most things through their TVs nowadays? Why do I need lovefilm, netflix and all this other crap when I've already got several other ways to do it. Microsoft better not let the core gamer down like they have these last 2-3 years otherwise it's curtains

Thanks for the links. I won't be visiting any of them. I'm glad you're fully in admittance that the majority of people use consoles to play games tho. You could just press agree on my comment in future

When I first got Xbox Live obviously for Multiplayer gaming. Then MS added Netflix to it (as well as other services). It was a nice feature. How ever the sneaking thing they did with it was add all the features to the Gold Service. Where as Sony/PS3 was a free download (No subscription required from Sony). Why should I pay MS for a Netflix service I already subscribe to? The PS4 Sounds better and better all the time. What cracks me up about MS/Xbox360 it was suppose to be a two tier service, Silver and Gold. What was the benefits to Silver anyway? Too scared to cancel Gold to find out.......

Your so right. Its rediculous the disagrees your getting. To many broke unemplyed gamers ic. Seems to be normal to spend 500 on a phone youll have for a year, or a 1200 computer youll have a few years, but god forbid you spend 500 on a gaming console that you will have for 10 plus years. The world and the people in it are retarted.

@wishing: The price point was one of many many things that made people abandon PS3. The PS3 didn't even come with HD cables and a rumble controller FFS!! $500 is not a lot especially if you're a "hardcore gamer". For $500 everyone would make sure it's a good deal but it's not unreasonable. The PS3 for $500 was a bad deal, that's why people, including me, were complaining. Because when we opened our debut $599 PS3 boxes we literally saw nothing that justified the price except a fancy blue-ray drive that didn't contribute anything to gaming and became dirt cheap right after all of us paid the premium with the PS3. Your comparison is wrong and using it as a premise led you to the wrong conclusion

I bet the people worried about spending $500 on a game console, probably race to get the new Galaxy S4 or latest iPhone every year and don't think twice when they're weak from the giving blood and plasma just to scrounge up some cash. Or better yet, cut back the pot and cheetos then you can afford things and ,ay actually have more drive to work.

Your paying $500 for a machine that will only really work when you pay for the Gold Subscription to get all the features. I don't hear many people singing praises for the Silver subscription. Those other items cell phones and pc's work right out of the box with out being required to pay for an additional subscription. Sadly there is no reward for being a Hard Core Loyal Gamer. The first people in line to get their machines will be the first to take one for the team.

These are all unknowns. We have no idea of pricing, but I doubt it will be very different to Sony (When they announce the price). But seriously, its weird how people will complain about the ps4/nextbox price (if its over $300) but they will happily fork out $500+ for an Iphone5 LOOL.

For starters, most people feel a stronger need to have a phone/internet than a gaming system. Sure, they don't NEED to buy a $500 phone, but they need a phone nonetheless. Comparing a videogame system to an iPhone is like saying "hey, you guys can buy a used car for $1000, but you spent $12,000 on a brand-new car! What gives?"

Plus, Apple products have a sense of prestige attached to them in our society. People think it's cool to have a smartphone or a tablet. To the general public, owning a videogame console isn't nearly as "cool". The last "cool" videogame systems (again, to the public) were the DS and the Wii.

the iphone argument is completely accurate. Im talking about the people who complain about an expensive games console, an still own the latest tech gadgets.

You cant use the car - used car Vs New Car argument, because you're essentially comparing the same product, and no car that is $1000 will be anywhere near the same as $12,000. You could compare a 100,000$ car to an apartment.

Also apple products and prestige LOL, its very easy to believe that but in reality adding weight to a phone =/= prestige. The illusion of premium products is where many go wrong, apple have used price fixing to make people think its prestige, but the profits that are made on each phone is insane.

And owning a games console has never been more popular, record sales this generation so it clearly is cool.

Because 95% of people on this site are biased ps3 kids who got no arguments. Apparently they do not have that many games to play since they spend whole days on sites like this one trying to defend sony like it would be their mothers(eventho I doubt they have the balls to defend their mothers, but oh well, they're still kids!). It's really hard to get an intelligent discussion on n4g.

Games. We buy consoles for games. Period. Smart tv's, tablets, and phones have access to every media platform such as Netflix. An article yesterday in yahoo stated that more and more people are abandoning tv's; went from 2 million to 5 million in two years. Consoles niche is games. So why get locked into a contract or have so many requirements to use the box while paying a premium price? IMO, logic has to be the driving force of why so many may pass up on the next box.

''claims that Microsoft intends to ship a $500 standard console as well as an alternative subscription model for $300. As speculation has suggested, the new system will require an Internet connection to properly function''

I really don't understand why it has to be internet connection only. I mean they are going to have a lot of connection problems going on.

There must be some pretty powerful hardware in that box. My guess is that it will have a powerful GPU inside of it and will make everyone completely forget about always-online. People love them graphics.

"..I've actually heard from, by the way not one or two people, several people who've said, 'based on what I've seen, Sony is going to blow them away.' Based on what you've seen? You've seen nothing. What are you talking about? No, but you've seen literally nothing from Microsoft.."